Port Dickson Half Marathon 2007

God must have a great sense of humour on this April Fool's Day. He sent pouring rain, strong wind and flooded roads to the PD Half Marathon runners, all the way, non-stop, from start to finish. And then, with a twist of fate, it was sunshine and blue sky right after the run was over. Heheh!

What? Port Dickson Half Marathon 2007

When? 1 April 2007 (Sunday); 7:00am

Where? Port Dickson, Negeri Sembilan

Distance? 11km (DNS – Did Not Start)

(Insert Milli Vanilli hit song – Blame It On The Rain here…Heheh!)

We checked into Sunshine Bay Apartment the evening before the run. It was sunny and hot. Blue sky and everything nice. Kids were playing at the beach. Couples were frolicking in the sea. Who would have thought a storm was brewing in the distance….(Insert thunder rumbling here).

As you can see here, the view from our apartment was splendid. We did stay at the highest floor (re: Penthouse).

The day was kinda relaxing. Watching people from the balcony while reading my most favourite magazine in the whole wide world. I could get used to this.

The race kit collection was held at the beautiful Admiral Marina and Leisure Club. Apart from the racekit collection counters, there were few promo counters – Penang Bridge Marathon, Powerbar, Brook shoes (very good discount on running shoes) etc.

We arrived at the starting point after a short drive from our rented apartment (about 10 minutes). Cheesy dance music was blaring from the speaker. There was a guy who supposedly the aerobic instructor tried very hard to coax the crowd to join him for a warm up session. Too bad for him, hardly ahandful moved their butts. I could feel tiny drops of rain falling. Not a good sign. “Please do not rain”, I prayed.

Unfortunately, my prayer went unanswered. The sky started to pour around 7:00am. It poured and poured (cats, dogs, mice and I think you could insert some donkeys into the expression too). I was running for shelter while the half marathoners were set off despite the rain. (Insert applause to the organiser for starting on time).

I went off to take shelter under Rac’s umbrella. Some runners found very innovative ways to protect themselves from the rain.

As the rain got heavier, I decided not to go ahead with the run. I cannot risk of catching pneumonia with so much things to do at work. Anyway, the finisher medals are limited for the 11km category, so the motivation factor was washed away completely with the rain (pun intended). Heheh!.

So, Rac and I headed to the car and drove to the half marathon turning point to take some pictures and to cheer on our fellow runners. The rain had no sign of stopping. (Insert cats, dogs, mice and more donkeys here)

What started as a half marathon had turned out to be a big wet t-shirt competition. You know how wet white T-shirt cling to the skin, right? It was rather fun watching people in their wet t-shirts running their butts off in the rain. Too bad my camera was wet and not able to capture the spirit of the competition. Heheh!

My camera went kaput here. The aperture cannot close properly due to wetness. (Insert TNS here!)

Anyway, most of the runners I talked to enjoyed the run despite the rain, the flood and the strong wind. Some even risked to be blown away by the strong wind. You know how skinny a runner can get, right? There were dangers too especially from the traffic and flooded potholes.

No one complained about the lack of water station. Who would since they can get abundant supply of all natural “sky juice” by just opening their mouth while running?

What’s in The Goodies Bag?

1 x PD Half Marathon cotton T-shirt

1 x Visit Malaysia Year (VMY) 2007 Notepad

1 x VMY 2007 Pen

1 x VMY 2007 Key chain

1 x VMY 2007 beaded necklace. (I was told it was meant for all the half marathoners only, but I managed to ahem... "charmed" the girls at the collection counter to give me one)

1 x RM100 Brooks Voucher (For selected shoes only)

Overall, I enjoyed the trip to Port Dickson very much despite not running. Thank you to Rac, Ron, Toh, Loh and Fook for making the trip to PD a pleasurable one. Let's do it next year. I will get ready with a water-proof camera next time. (Insert wink here!)